The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and relevant links.

Smoky-Red Sun, Orange Moon

Destructive — even deadly — wildfires wreaked havoc this summer in California, British Columbia and the American Northwest, from Washington and Oregon inland to western Montana and Idaho. At one point, news reports indicated fire crews were battling almost 100 large drought-fueled blazes, or fire complexes, in forests and on rangelands. As August neared its end, about 2 million acres had been scorched, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

But the fires’ smoke also choked states downstream, as weather patterns carried smoky particulates to mountain ranges and valleys hundreds of miles away, where an intensifying haze settled in for a long stay.

In relatively fire-free Utah, on days that would otherwise have featured beautiful summer-blue skies, we instead endured a pall of smoke. The only visual plus in all this was that, for most evenings during the smoke siege, the setting Sun transformed into an impressively large orange-red orb as it descended toward the horizon. And on several nights the waxing gibbous Moon looked like a Blood Moon.

In the top photo above, taken on Aug. 22, 2015, the Sun is dropping through smoke beyond Great Salt Lake’sAntelope Island — which wasn't even visible until the day’s last light turned the island’s high ridges into silhouettes. In the bottom photo, taken on Aug. 23, 2015, the half-Moon looks like a fruity orange segment beside Utah’s State Capitol dome, in Salt Lake City. In both cases, the Sun and the Moon have slipped into the forest fire’s haze, and the low blanket of smoke is filtering out most of the light spectrum, emphasizing such colors as orange and red.

In the daytime, the smoke degraded valley air quality — and turned Utah’s mountainous spine (inset photo) into a Western version of the Great Smoky Mountains. This view is from a little over 9,000 ft (2743 m), high above Sanpete Valley.